Where do AirBnB guests start a conversation?

[Jason1470]

Hi,

I have been a happy AirBnB customer for quite a while now but only as a guest. I'm new to the online community and was trying to figure out if there was any specific group for guests. I note that most of the groups and threads are by hosts only. As a guest, I've had some great experiences on this platform and it would be great to share some of these stories with the wider community. The social interaction with locals is one of the main drawcards for me as a guest and it is no wonder that AirBnB remains my first choice of accommodation when I travel.  

Pardon me if I'm barking up the wrong tree here 😉

Jason

[Helen427]

Hello @Jason1470 across the seas in Australia & welcome to ABB CC from Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand

 You have come to the right place.

There are Hosts in here who are also Guests.

Have you considered Hosting yourself?

 I'm sure @Lizzie will give you a warm welcome who arranges Zoom meet ups and looming around the Corner The Month of Celebration in December, it would be neat to hear a Guests Christmas adventure stories...

@Nick @Liv @Katie  and @Stephanie who is currently on Maternity leave are the main Admins in here & I'm sure will make you welcome  along with other people.

All the best & look fwd to a Guest's angle.

[Jason1470]

Hello @Helen427,

Thank you for the warm welcome from across the ditch 😉 I'm glad to be a part of this community and would love to get more involved with discussions and provide some insights as a guest. 14 stays...14 awesome experiences...and, a heap of new acquaintances and friends made along the way. I'm surprised how I even travelled for so long without Airbnb. If I could scream from the rooftops I would: "AirBnB CC ROCKS!!!"

As far as hosting goes, we've migrated to Oz a few years ago, and have only just become Aussie citizens. We should hopefully have our own little nest soon and maybe we are able to welcome guests with equal zest 😉

[Inna22]

@Jason1470 Airbnb would be delighted if you posted on their FB page. I am glad you had good experiences. That is why a lot of us are here- not only to vent but to help each other service our guests better

[Jason1470]

Hi @Inna22 ,

Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm glad to be a part of this community. Only good stories from me so far. I guess in my case it has always been a case of like-attracts-like. I have met some great hosts, most of whom have ended up as friends.

I will certainly join the FB page and provide comments from time to time out there too.

Cheers,

Jason

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Jason1470 

I am a host that started out as a guest 🙂 and while this CC is a community board for hosts, there have been some regular guest users who post and share their views. IMO, while many are host users, sometimes getting the guest perspective can also be quite valuable and helpful. 

[Helen3]

Hi @Jessica-and-Henry0  these community boards are for guests as well as hosts - not just for hosts.

@Jason1470  welcome aboard. 

[Jason1470]

Thanks @Helen3 ,

Well noted.Glad to be a part of the community.

Regards,

Jason

[Jason1470]

Hello @Jessica-and-Henry0 ,

Thanks. I will definitely provide my constructive feedback as a guest from time to time. All I can say is that this is truly a great platform which has given power back to travellers in a manner that no one could have envisaged pre-Airbnb.

Regards,

Jason

[Cathie19]

Welcome @Jason1470  to the community centre. As for where do you start a conversation? Right where you did! Lol...

This platform as @Helen3 said, is for guests and hosts.  :). 

As a guest and a host, the more opinions and perspectives on offer to this global community, all the better it becomes.

Oh, and congratulations on your citizenship! 🙌🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

So to a fellow top ender on the golden sunset and sands - WA side of the border, may I say welcome from Darwin, the Top End NT! 

[Jason1470]

Hi @Cathie19 ,

Thanks for the warm welcome. Well, we've been around in QLD, VIC, NSW and now WA so far. QLD and WA is where we've primarily resided and worked but we did backpack across Australia and visited some of the other states then. (Pssst...there is a book coming out soon which covers our backpacking adventures in Australia 😉 )

We were cash strapped as migrants and were also a bit apprehensive about venturing too fat out on our own in a strange and foreign land 😉 Hence we, unfortunately, have not visited NT just yet. But we will get there someday. These itchy feet of mine are certainly getting restless, and I've got two wonderful kids (I call them joeys, naturally) in tow now, with whom we would love to share all of our adventures.

Best,

Jason

[Katie]

Welcome to the Community @Jason1470, it's great to have you here and we'd love to hear your perspective on things as a guest.

I've also travelled Aus a fair bit, and I can definitely recommend NT, so make sure to get up that way if you get the opportunity 😁

[Sarah977]

One of the reasons why you'll see may more posts from hosts than guests here is because guests tend to post only when they have some issue they want help with. Hosts do that, too, but also post to ask general questions about many aspects of hosting and to share other experiences or suggestions.

As a host, I find it valuable to read posts from guests here- both good and bad experiences, suggestions, and also to see that some guests are confused about things like why they should be expected to tidy up after themselves or why they shouldn't be eligible for a refund in contravention of the cancellation policy in place that they agreed to when they booked.

As a home-share host who has a lot of interaction with guests, and who tries to give my guests the "live like a local" experience, I'm happy to read that this is your attraction to staying at Airbnbs, as there now seems to be more of the "rent a entire place, self-check-in, no interest in meeting the host" mentality associated with Airbnb, as if it's simply a cheaper alternative to a hotel.

[Ann72]

@Jason1470  Welcome, and I think you've got a good point!  You don't always want to post in "Help."  "Interests" isn't quite right - nor is "Hosting."   @Lizzie and other admins have tweaked the boards and I believe we once discussed one called "Guesting."  I think it would be awesome for guests to come on and share tips, favorite places, and the inevitable nightmares.  If there were regular guest-posters in the community they newbie and less-than-stellar guests would get a great education just as hosts do. 

I'm a big fan of my guests.  Given how complicated planning travel can be in the best of times, I love that they did their research, found my place, booked it, paid me, came and stayed, took good care of the place, and left a nice review.  A lot of hosts talk about how they go above and beyond - I think a lot of guests go above and beyond.

[Jason1470]

Hi @Ann72 ,

I think this platform is a two-way street, and hosting and 'guesting' are but two sides of the same coin.  

Whilst it is understandable why the hosts would find great benefit by being a part of these online discussions, I believe that guests should display an equal amount of interest in sharing our viewpoints, our highs, and our lows when using this platform. This should not turn into a complaint register (There are avenues for such redressal) but rather an opportunity for guests to sho what made a place (or a certain experience) unique. I don't think I will be way off the mark when I say that as a host you can vouch that no two guests are alike, and that they all take away something from the interaction; more often than not this would be dependent on the guest's predisposition and his 'travel ethos'. 

As Gilbert K. Chesterton has quoted - The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see. The greatest rewards of being an Airbnb member, either as a host or a guest, is this ability to grow as a person, to learn from different cultures, to be exposed to different viewpoints, to learn that there is more than one way of living. This is true for me at least, with every travel experience - good or bad - making me a more resourceful, accomodating and mindful traveller.

@Lizzie - 'Guesting' is a great word 😉 

Best,

Jason